"There is significant evidence that breastfeeding can be quite challenging, when somebody is overweight". Is there? Where?

[GwendolineMaryLacedwithBrandy]

This is in the literature that I've just found for my hospital. I had a disastrous experience with bf with DD and so this time am attending an antenatal bf and colostrum harvesting "workshop". Was looking for info.

This is the first I've heard that being overweight affects breastfeeding . Does it?

Anecdotally I have noticed that my slim friends seem to have no problem with feeding and with pumping and I have always struggled. I'm a 16 and I think my bmi is about 30, defo overweight anyway. I've always wondered about issues with Bfing being connected to weight actually, because I think it might have something to do with metabolism. Never actually talked about this with anyone so do correct me! I just wonder if having a high metabolism (which slim people have) means yr body is also efficient at creating breastmilk.

Mind you I think you aren't allowed to co-sleep if there is a 'A' in the day, if the sun has been visible that day, if there is air in the room, etc according to some....

There is evidence that bf is affected by being overweight - a number of papers out there, but no certain conclusions about why. Having very large breasts can mean comfortable and effective positioning is sometimes more difficult, but I have seen mothers become very creative in working out what works for them. I once helped a lady who was about 30 stone, and she had to do exclusively biological nurturing, otherwise the baby could not latch on. But hey - she managed just fine!

Some of the papers I have seen are not talking about someone being size 22 with 38H breasts. They make a cut off (between 'more likely' and 'less likely' to have problems) at much, much higher than this.

In any case, no research can predict what an individual will experience.

Having said that, I don't think it's unreasonable for a leaflet to indicate that more help will be available if you need it, and some people are more likely to need it than others. The problem to overcome is to do this sensitively and non-judgementally.

Random fact that will probably add not at all to the debate. I referreed a paper in 2006 which reported correlation between high BMI and "failing" (for want of a better word) at breastfeeding (ie, not breastfeeding, and not out of choice).

I recommended it not be published as it was poor statistically; but the authors might have got their act together since then.

Anecdata: I am overweight but have been breastfeeding pretty much continuously since I refereed said paper!

I wish the reality of what they were offering was the same as the leaflet promises. That certainly wasn't my experience 4 years ago. I have no issue with information being presented, it's how it's presented.

And NL is right about the judgements made. I am currently on week 5 of blood sugar monitoring, 4x per day. I don't have GD, so why are they asking me to do it? And I'll bet you anything that when dd2 arrives they'll want to check her blood sugar too. For no reason. And then we'll see whether attitudes to bf in that hospital have improved.

Apparently, truthsweet, in Australia they have recently told all HVs to absolutely state "no bed sharing" rather than trying to offer info on safe options, because they can't work out how to simply the safe bed sharing message enough to communicate it with the masses. Lots of V upset HCPs :(

Still, not much different to here, eh.

Truthsweet, that was exactly what I was thinking, poor body awareness due to extremities of body being much further away from the muscles and where it should be.
I am always bumping into shit because my brain forgets I'm not size 14 and would not be confident that I wouldn't drape myself over my poor baby unawares.
Because of that I've got a bedside cot, peace of mind + easy access.

I was sure I'd heard that the effect of excess fat on hormones was a cause of supply issues for some women, in a similar way it affects PCOS, but sounds like there's no studies.

That is a very very shit (sorry!) public health service then. I'm sure they manage to convey the complexities of other public health issues just fine...

So they are basically treating you as a diabetic patient then Even though you've had the test for diabetes and it showed you weren't suffering from GD...........ok that's officially odd. What is their evidence base for this enhanced monitoring in an patient who DOESN'T have the condition?

FFS! As if overweight was a significant factor in the UK's pitiful bf rates.

Yep, that's about the size of it. Baby is a bit big, which is what they said about dd1 who was 8lb 10 at 40 weeks (ginormous, yes?!) After my next growth scan on the 21st they'll decide whether to induce me

But, as I think I said on another thread, my beef with all this is how it'll affect what they do after the birth. I've been there before. This time I'm bolshier, I hope...

In my totally non medical opinion THE significant factor in our low rate of breastfeeding is reduced confidence both in our ability to breastfeed and in breastmilk to sustain our children. The approach taken in this leaflet doesn't help that, nor does the normalisation of bottle feeding at the expense of breast that is general in society.

On a personal level I have many friends who have bottlefed because it was absolutely the right thing for them and their dcs have done very well. Looking at it from a non personal pov though I can identify factors in their experience which contributed to them not breastfeeding and where it would be possible, had they been appropriately addressed, for the outcome to have been different.

GM - you will tell them you'll be the one deciding on induction won't you? If you want to go for it then great - but these particular HCP's seem to need reminding that they can't deliver your baby without your input!

ooh I have always wanted to do this
This has not affected me ergo it is not an issue in the population in general

After the birth re the feeding I should have said, it is relevant to this thread, promise!

From Elizabeth Pantley's website (re cosleeping)

" Do not sleep with your baby if you are a large person, as a parent's excess weight poses a proven risk to baby in a co-sleeping situation. I cannot give you a specific weight-to-baby ratio; simply examine how you and baby settle in next to each other. If baby rolls towards you, if there is a large dip in the mattress, or if you suspect any other dangerous situations, play it safe and move baby to a bedside crib or cradle. "

www.pantley.com/elizabeth/books/0071381392.php?nid=169&isbn=0071381392

Of course a baby will roll towards you instinctively anyway, but I think the issue is if the mattress is sagging to a point that they can't roll away, which TBH is I think a bit far-fetched and is surely more related to the kind of mattress you have (they already specify it must be firm and not a waterbed for this reason.)

SPB - I'm not following you? What are we supposed to say - this hasn't affected me nor have I ever seen any substantial evidence to this effect but hey some HCP's say so (in a totally un-referenced statement) so it must be true? As I understand Tiktoks post she was saying that the studies that have been published establish correlation not causation?

Northern - yes, loss of confidence in bf, and total lack of NHS support for it beyond a load of haranguing leaflets.

not sure where i fit in this

before i was pregnant I was healthy weight; size 10 - 12
at my 6 weeks check (at 8 weeks) I was 21kg heavier than i was before, and a size 16.

I have EBF my 3 months old and dont intend to switch to formula ever.

so many people have told me that all this fat is my breast feeding reserves... i have lost 4kg in the last 4 weeks (while eating like a horse) so id say that this extra weight is helping / not hindering me

(although i was normal weight before getting pg)

NL - I will admit to not reading the whole thread, and knowing nothing about this :) It's just whenever there is a thread, say, about breastfeeding leading to fewer instances of gastroenteritis or whatever in babies, people come on in droves to say that ff didn't do them, their children and their uncle's wife's friend's baby any harm. They offer this as irrefutable evidence against the argument. So I was pleased (in admittedly a childish way) to be able to do the same about something the other way round.

Ah I see - maybe not the best thread to do this on but I take your point